The requirement for crew blast protection in armoured vehicles has been an element of the technical specifications for armoured tracked and wheeled vehicles for many years. The interest in more effective protection has risen in recent years with the increased use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and high-powered mines.
Proposed solutions to this problem have centered primarily on the philosophy that adding more armour plating would deflect the blast. However, there is a limit to the amount of additional armour that vehicles can accommodate without severely limiting their capabilities. Some current vehicle platforms consider weight as a critical, performance-related factor. As a result, a lighter, more efficient mine blast protection solution is advantageous.
Other attempts to address this problem have used systems of straps to suspend vehicle seats, or have used simplistic energy-absorbing systems. However, none of these systems have appreciated the vast amount of energy that must be absorbed or the complexity of the dynamics of an explosion. Many of these systems will be destroyed, distorted or seize under the energy of a blast, making them ineffective. And some systems are ineffective regardless, such as the strap suspension systems which do little more than launch the passenger into the roof of the vehicle or allow him to collide with the sides of the vehicle in the event of an explosion. None of these proposed solutions have been particularly effective in reducing injury and death of vehicle occupants.
There is therefore a need for a blast attenuation seat which obviates or mitigates at least some of the disadvantages in the art.